Media
TALKSPORT OWNER UNVEILS IPO PLAN.
Kelvin MacKenzie, the owner and chief of the Wireless Group, has unveiled plans to raise #35 million ($54.77 million) to #40 million through a placement of shares. The Wireless Group owns talkSport, the UK?s only dedicated sports radio station. Mackenzie said the firm expected to list on the London market on May 25.
FIRST ENTERTAINMENT STREAMS PGA?S COMPAQ CLASSIC
First Entertainment, a leading Multimedia Internet Entertainment Company, will stream live video of the PGA Compaq Classic of New Orleans on the company's F2 Sports Network. The live streaming will take place between May 1 - 7 from the English Tern Golf and Country Club in New Orleans.
ISL LAUNCHES NEW FIBA SUPROLEAGUE
Basketball?s international governing body, FIBA, and international sports marketing company, ISL Worldwide, have unveiled a new strategy for European basketball. The new concept for 2000 and beyond will give the FIBA Euroleague a completely different look, with a new competitive format, name and visual identity. The move follows the agreement made earlier this year, between FIBA and ISL.
SPORTBUSINESS 2000 ? EXPERTS PREDICT RIGHTS TO CONTINUE TO ROCKET
Rights fees for the major sports properties are set to keep on rising ? according to a panel of experts at the SportBusiness 2000 conference.
SPONSOR BOYCOTT CALL FOR BIG RACE
Animal rights supporters have called on media and sponsors to boycott the Grand National tomorrow ? the UK?s biggest horse racing event.
TEL AVIV CONSIDERS OLYMPIC BID
Tel Aviv may bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics, officials have said.
UK GOVERNMENT DENY JOINT WORLD CUP BID REPORT
The British government has dismissed a report that England might team up with Germany in a bid to host soccer's 2006 World Cup rather than press its own case.
UK IR TO SCRAP BETTING LEVY
The Inland Revenue is planning to scrap betting duty and replace it with a new tax on bookmakers in response to offshore internet gambling, according to a Financial Times report.
EM.TV TO BUY F1 STAKE
German media company EM.TV is poised to take a 50% stake worth #1.2bn in Formula One motor racing, according to the UK?s Sunday Business newspaper.
KYTE FLIES HIGH AT FIRSTSTAKE.COM
Firststake.com has appointed the former general manager of Sportingbet.com, Peter Kyte, as its new senior operations manager of its new online betting service.
TOP ISL EXECUTIVE QUITS
One of ISL?s key figures in the marketing of its top soccer properties is to quit to join Quokka Sports, Sport Business can confirm.
CONTENT DEAL BRINGS RESULTS TO FANS? PHONES
Online sports media company Total Sports has teamed up with Air2Web ? a wireless web-based infrastructure services provider - to create a wireless application for sports fans to receive updated scores and news on their digital cellular phones.
BANK PLANS F1 SHARE SELL-OFF
Deutsche Bank's Morgan Grenfell Private Equity is negotiating to sell its 12.5 percent of Bernie Ecclestone's Formula One for $550 million, according to report in London?s the Times newspaper.
ASCOT RACES TO BE SCREENED LIVE ON WEB
Europe?s first ever live online race meeting is to take place this weekend when three races will be beamed live via the web from England.
BLUETORCH PRODUCE AND SPONSOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SURF EVENT
Bluetorch, the cross-media network for extreme sports, is to produce and take the title sponsorship of the largest surfing event in North America.
GOALNETWORK.COM LAUNCHES FOX SPORTS SPONSORSHIP
goalnetwork.com, the global online soccer network launched in November, has signed a deal to be the exclusive sponsor on 185 soccer matches broadcast on FOX Sports World and 175 soccer matches on FOX Sports World Espanol.
MEDIA CONTENT JOIN MILE HIGH CLUB AS AIR TV SPORTS PROGRAMMING CONSULTANTS
AirTV, the company which plans to launch a live in-flight TV and Internet service by 2002, has appointed Media Content Sports Media Advisors to advise on its sports programming strategy and to manage the acquisition of live sports content.
SSM FREESPORTS COMPLETES MANAGEMENT TEAM LINE-UP
SSM Freesports, the UK-based specialist lifestyle sports agency, has announced three high- profile signings to its management team : Nick Kennerley joins as SSM's newly appointed Head of Television, Betty Maitland joins as General Manager and Dan O'Toole as Head of Business Development.